Boat propulsion.



Patented Nox/.17, 190s. 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

wh/kaaza aum/nut I. B. ROLKA. BOAT PRoPULsIoN. APPLICATION FILED MAY 27, 190B.

Patented Nov. 17,1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIW/ l I, I I 0 l l NHMN ' with moes R the usual paddles and propellers and utilizconsists in the novel construction, combina the laterallyl acting expansion chambers.

v of the boat;

'is a vertical longitudinal section through a IGNATIUS B. P'vOLli, OF I ATTON, PENXSYLYA NIA.

BOAT PROPULSION.

Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patntean'ov. i7, i908.

Application filled May 27, 1908. Serial No. L$35,318.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it knownthat I, IGNA'riUs B. RoLiiii, a citizen of the United States, residing lat Patton, in the county ofC-ainbria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and use-v ful Improvements in Boat Propulsion,v of which the follpwiing is a specification.-

This invention'relates to boat propulsion', the object of the invention being to provide simple and effective apparatus for propelling boats of various sizes, doing away with inof" the steam directed fromthe' boiler by de ivering said steam into expansion chambers which are submerged beneath the hull A further object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement of expansion chambers and coperating devices that the boat may either be propelled ahead or astern i or stopped or steered laterally to either side according to requirements,

lVith the above and other objects in View, the nature of which will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the invent-ion tion and arrangement of parts as herein fully described, illustrated and vclaimed.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 boat showing the propulsion apparatus'of this invention, applied thereto. Figa@ is a bottom plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is in enlarged 'vertical longitudinal section showing the arrangement of the fore and aft eX-L pansion chambers. Fig. 1l is a vertical cross section on the line el-/l of Fig. 1, showing In the main, the hull of the vessel may be of the usual or any preferred general shape.

In carrying out the. present invention, however, the bottom of the hull is provided with keels 1 arranged side by side and preff erably diverging from front to rear, as illustrat d\in Fig. 2 so as to provide for the ready escape of the body of water contained betweenthe two keels as itv is acted upon by the steam in a manner hereinafter described. In order to provide vents for the water and steam at points intermediate the. length of the keels, said keels are divided or made in sections as shown in FigfQ'and provided with overlapping portions 9. and 3. lust ahead of the keels 1, the bottoni of the hull is also provided with a cross` tunnel recess I 4 in which the' laterally acting exprmsion l boat is being propelled ahead.

hereinafter appear. Y

Arranged between the afterV sections of the keels 1 is avplurality of-steam expansion chambers 5 which are in the shape of cones having the points `thereof disposed toward the bow ofthe boat.M Each of said eXpan sion chambers is in communication with a steam pipe G and said expansion chambers are also arranged in groups and each group is connected by means of the pipes 6 with a longitudinal series of steam'chests .7 as best illust-rated in Fig. Each steam chest 7i supplied with steam by meansofa pipe 8 which leads from the chest to a steam boiler 9. Furthermore, `each pipe 8 is provided with a stop cock 10' by means of which the steamjmay be eutv olf or supplied to the reehanibers are locatedand housed-as will spective steam chestV and 'the amount of steam i larger discharge ends toward the stern of4 the boat so as to deliver the expanding steam in'to the water passing through the space between the keels 1, which results in driving the boat ahead. t

Between the forward sections of the keels there arearranged other expansion chambers 1l which correspond with the expansion chambers except that they are reversed so that the discharge" ends thereof open out toward the bow of the boat. The expansion chambers 11are in communication ,with the steam chest l2 from which a steam pipe 13 leads to the boiler 9. In order to prevent the water from entering the expansion cliambers 11, defiectors 14 in the form of plates are hinged as shown at 15 to the bottoni of the vessel and adapted to be moved up and down as may be required by means of a crank shaft 16 mounted in suitable bearings within the hull of the vessel as shown in F ig. 1,'s`faid crank shaft being operated by the rod 17 of a piston working in a steam cylinder 18 from which a supply pipe 19 leads to the boiler 9.1 Connected with the deflectors 14 are rack bars 20 which mesh with openings 21 on the.

crank shaft 16, the arrangement being such that when the piston of the rod 17 is moved inone direction the deiiectors are raised and when moved in the opposite direction said detlectors are lowered to the position shown in Fig. 1, thus preventing the entrance of water to the expansion chambers when the 'lo provide. for steering the boat. reversely arranged in disposed expansion nambers 22 and 23 are the. tunnel 4 as best illustrated in Fig. 4, said expansion `chambers communieating with steam chests L74 arranged Within the hull of the vessel and connected by steam pipes 25 with the boiler, said pipes being controlled by valves Q6. The expansion chambers :2i/L and 23 at one side of the center of the hull face in one direction while those at the opposite side face in the other direction. Therefore, by admitting steam .to one set of chambers E22 and 23 thev bow of the vessel will be deflected to one side while by admitting steam to the other set of expansion chambers the bow of the Vessel will be deflected to the other side.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the vessel may be propelled or backed or stopped and also steered by directin steam to the appropriate expansion chambers located below the water line.

I claim l. In boat propulsion, the combination with the hull of a'vessel, of heels arranged .side by side and comprising overlapping sections providing vents `between the overlapping portions of the sections, steam expansion chambers located in the space between the keels below the water line, and a steam boiler in communication with said expansion chambers.

2. In boat propulsion, the combination with the hull of a vessel, of reversely dis- Josed laterally acting steam expansion chamlvers, a steam .boiler in communication with said expansion chambers, and means for controlling the communication between .the boiler and Said expansion chambers.

3. In boat propulsion, the combination with the hull of a'vessel, of steam expansion chambers located belonT the water line, a 'steam-,boiler in communication with said expansion chambers, deflectors for cutting off water from or admitting water to the expansion chambers` and` means controlled by the action of the( steam for moving said delectors.

In testnnony whereof I aix my signature an presence of two Witnesses.

IGNATIUS B. ROLKA.

Witnesses W isn-H. SANDFORD, ANTHONY KLINE. 

